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Elisha McLaughlin
Elisha Elisabeth McLaughlin is the daughter of Jannine McLaughlin and Tom McLaughlin. She is currently a student in the TEACH-NOW certification program where she is studying to become an elementary school teacher. Most importantly, Elisha is the bride and will be marrying Zack Rearick on May 21, 2016. Early Life Elisha was born in December of 1993 in Minnesota, where she spent the remainder of her childhood. For the first ten years of her life, Elisha and her family lived in Farmington, MN. As a child, Elisha enjoyed horseback riding, playing basketball in the cul-de-sac with the neighborhood kids, riding her bike, and, to no one's surprise, doing school work. When Elisha was ten years old, her family bought her a horse, and they all moved to a farm in Dennison, MN where Elisha lived until she was 17. Elisha attended Northfield High School and was active in many school clubs. When she was 12, Elisha began giving horseback riding lessons, a job she continued until moving to Finland at age 17. During high school, Elisha spent the majority of her time studying and helping on the farm. When she had a free minute, she would meet up with her friends to play Ultimate Frisbee and Quelf. At age 17, Elisha became a Rotary Youth Exchange Student and was assigned to spend a year in Turku, Finland. She absolutely loved her experience and learned more than she ever imagined she would have. Because she spent her senior year abroad, Elisha had to do all of her college applications from overseas. College applications and decisions are complicated enough when living at home, and some complications arose that prompted Elisha to apply to Georgia State University. Luckily, she got in and chose to attend. Beginnings at Georgia State Freshman Learning Community Because Elisha applied to Georgia State so late, most of the classes were already full by the time she was allowed to register. Because of this, she was forced to join something called a Freshman Learning Community (FLC). This was a group of 25 students who had all of the same classes and, theoretically, the same interests. Although she was less than thrilled by the idea, she went ahead and signed up for the FLC called "Global Ambassadors." Luckily for Elisha, this FLC was exactly what she needed. On her first day of college, she met Thailer. Soon after, the two girls met Kayin. And, unknown to her at the time, Elisha also met the man that she would marry. First Day of School On her first day of school, Elisha woke up at 5:00 AM to leave Monroe, which was where she was living with her dad and step-mom. She grabbed her cup of coffee and hopped in the car, praying she would make it in time for her 9:00 AM class. Yes, she really did have to leave that early. Atlanta traffic is an absolute nightmare, and, despite only having driven in the city once before that, Elisha had already figured that one out. Upon arriving at school, Elisha parked her car (a small Honda Civic name Fredrick with whom she had a bit of a contentious relationship) at a free parking lot a little ways from campus, hopped on a bus, and headed to her first class. She walked towards the building called Sparks Hall and headed up to the fourth floor. Upon entering her classroom, she saw a girl with fiery red hair (who she would later learn was Thailer) and briefly considered sitting next to her, only to decide that the girl was way to cool to ever be friends with her. Ha. Little did she know. Once she found her seat, she looked up at the front of the room to see if the professor was there. There was a man standing at the front of the room, but he did not look old enough to be the professor. When it was time for class to start, Elisha was pleased to find that he was, in fact, the instructor (not professor...he was working on his PhD, meaning that he was not a doctor yet) for her English 1101 class. He seemed like a pretty fun guy, and Elisha thought that, had they been in high school at the same time, he definitely would have been her friend. Turns out, kids, this instructor's name was Zack Rearick. Later that day, Elisha went on to bump into the fiery redhead at Starbucks, and the two became fast friends. For the full story of their friendship, head on over to read about Thailer. The Rest of the Year Overall, the rest of that year was relatively uneventful. Elisha moved on campus, which, despite costing a million dollars, was the best decision she could have made. Living close to school gave her the ability to get involved and make friends. The building that she lived in was the same as Thailer's, which was great for both studying and hanging out. Throughout that year, Elisha became closer friends with Thailer, got to know Kayin, and eventually bumped into Zack in the hallway, which led to their relationship (for the full story, head on over to How We Met Each Other). Godiva Chocolate At the beginning of second semester, Elisha got a job working at Godiva Chocolate. In short, it was horrible. Before discovering how awful it actually was, Elisha helped Kayin get a job there. Sorry about that, man. Elisha only stayed at that job for a little under six months, at which time she moved back to Monroe for the summer. Second Year at GSU By the time the second year of her college career began, Elisha and Zack had begun dating. For that story, refer back to How We Met Each Other. Elisha had also changed her major from Political Science to Psychology, a move that she couldn't have been happier to make. Speaking of moves, Elisha and Thailer moved in together (along with another friend of theirs), which was absolutely wonderful. Despite this year being filled to the brim with stories, there is surprisingly little to tell. That's what happens when things are going well. Nannying Elisha began nannying for a family of five sometime during sophomore year. The three children were all in middle school, which, of course, brought its challenges. Despite this, Elisha enjoyed herself. Her job was mostly driving, which, despite Fredrick's best efforts, prompted Elisha to get a new car. Luckily, her mom offered to give her the Prius, the car in which Elisha had learned to drive. She still drives him today. Anyway, Elisha continued nannying for the same family through the end of her first semester of junior year, at which time she no longer had time to work five days per week. It was bittersweet, but ultimately the right decision. Elisha and Zack Move in Together Summer after sophomore year, Elisha and Zack found a lovely little apartment and moved in together. They have been living together ever since and couldn't be happier. Like I said before, there is surprisingly little to say when things are going well. Third Year at GSU Continuing with the theme, there really is not much to tell about year three. Elisha and Zack continued being happy, and school continued going well. Proposal Every time someone asks Elisha and Zack about the proposal, they tell them that it is a long, complicated process that involved a series of romantic riddles, puzzles, and prizes. They do this with good reason. If you would like to read the entire story of the proposal (which is long, complicated, and makes little sense), please visit Our Engagement Story. Don't say you weren't warned. Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Beginning in the fall of junior year, Elisha became an undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA) for Psychology 3510: Introduction to Research Design and Analysis. She had always loved teaching, and UTAing gave her the opportunity to once again use her teaching skills. Every week, Elisha hosts study sessions for students in Psyc 3510, going over material from lectures and creating pratice problems. At one of her recent study sessions, Elisha had 35 students show up! This is one of Elisha's favorite parts of school. Nannying (Continued) Second semester junior year, Elisha continued nannying on a smaller scale. She worked twice a week with two girls (ages 4 and 11). Intern at Marcus Autism Center Elisha began working in Marcus Autism Center's feeding disorder clinic as a practicum (internship for credit) during her second semester of junior year. She worked in food preparation and as a clinician's assistant. It was very rewarding and rather intense. She wass so glad to have this opportunity. Fourth Year at GSU Halfway through her third year, Elisha decided that she would be graduating a semester early. She was very excited to complete her undergraduate career sooner than originally anticipated. In addition to being a full time student, Elisha also continued working as a UTA and had three other jobs this semester. Other than that, not much changed. Zack and Elisha are, as always, quite busy, but they are just as happy as ever. Nannying This year, Elisha gets to work as a driver for a fourteen year old boy named Nicholas who does competitive swimming. It is a lot of fun because Nicholas is a nice kid. Elisha picks him up from school and drives him to swimming five days per week and occassionally waits around at practice to bring him home as well. Dog Sitting Elisha was a regular dog sitter for a tiny Maltese named Casper. He was a very sweet dog, and his owner had to travel for work around once per week. Casper was quite spoiled, but he was so cute that it made up for it. Teaching Assistant Elisha connected with a high school English teacher named Alex who works in a Title 1 school in a failing district. Because there are so many restrictions and rule regarding data collection on student performance, Alex needed an extra set of hands when it comes to grading and lesson planning. Elisha loved working with her and helping the students improve throughout the semester. Grading is a lot of work, but it is totally worth it for Elisha to see students take her comments to heart and really improve their scores. This is just one of the many reasons that Elisha wants to be a teacher. Spring 2016 After graduating from GSU in December, Elisha began a teacher certification program called TEACH-NOW. The program lasts for nine months, the first six of which are online. After Zack and Elisha get married, they will move to Charlotte, NC where Elisha will complete the final three months of her program in an elementary school classroom. Work For the most part, Elisha's jobs stayed the same in the spring. She no longer could continue as a UTA because she is no longer an undergraduate, but she continued driving Nicholas to swimming practice, watching Casper when his owner is out of town, and helping Alex with her grading. In addition to all of that, Elisha started a second nannying position in January with the Rubin family where she spends time with Avital, a four month old little girl, and brings Matan, Avital's three year old brother, to school. Elisha will continue all of her jobs until the end of April, which she and Zack will move to North Carolina Fun Facts! * Her favorite television show is'' How I Met Your Mother''. She has seen the entire series at least 5 times. Other than the last season. She's only seen that one three times. * So far, Elisha has had one cat for every year of her life. * When she was little, her favorite books were Laura Charlotte and Watership Down. * Her favorite Disney movie is The Lion King. * Elisha is (almost) fluent in German and pretends that she can still speak Finnish. * She only owns one pair of jeans. This is less by choice than she would like. * Elisha and Zack have seen and ranked all 55 animated Disney classics. * Elisha enjoys making things like cards, which is why, as you all know or soon will know, your invitations are handmade and handwritten. She thinks that homemade cards have something special that you just can't get with professionally printed ones. * When Elisha was a little girl, she wanted to be a cat farmer.